Canadian Track Makes Large Commitment to IHRA Drag Racing

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Eastbound Dragway is ready for its most exciting season ever in 2018.

The International Hot Rod Association (IHRA)-sanctioned dragway opened in 2015 as part of Eastbound International Speedway and Concert Park, a state-of-the-art, 55-acre Motorsport Park which also features four series of racing on a NASCAR and INEX-sanctioned 3/8-mile asphalt track, Monster Trucks, motocross and a world-class musical entertainment venue.

This season, there is a special emphasis on the 1/8-mile competition on the drag racing side at the track located at Avondale in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

“We’re a multi-entertainment facility, and at the core are our NASCAR and IHRA programs,” Eastbound Park Director of Events Mike James said. “On the IHRA side, this season is the most exciting we’re looking to. We have a drivers’ association and they did some great work where we have a great working relationship. We have 36 events over the 2018 season from May to October.”

The track goes the extra mile for both racers and spectators to create a fan-friendly environment. They often set up a go-kart track during IHRA, NASCAR and special event weekends. In addition, they’ve combined the IHRA Summit SuperSeries races with some of their special races this season.

“Working with the teams, we’ve gotten great feedback,” he said. “Drag racing here has been going on since the sixties. We just wanted to make that program participant-friendly. We wanted to attract a fan base through special events while running our IHRA program. The teams are really excited about this format.”

They’re also promoting a “take it to the track” program to get racing off the streets. The Wednesday program has been successful and they’ve also found an increase in those guys becoming racers in the weekend programs.

A major goal now is to bring an IHRA Summit SuperSeries World Championship back to Eastbound after a strong showing from Jr. Dragster champion Darien Legge at last year’s IHRA Summit World Finals.

David Anthony (Top) and Michael Lewis (Mod) also won IHRA Summit SuperSeries track championships in 2017.

“We enjoy the expertise from IHRA, from our division director Jon O’Neal, and it’s just the whole package,” Lewis said. “The (IHRA Summit) World Finals, we’ve managed to get down there twice and young Darien Legge, just 11 years old, represented us from Canada for Newfoundland and Labrador. He placed second in the World Finals. We’ve now extended the track and put in a program to take our racers to the next level.”